1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to disposable sanitary gloves and, more specifically, to an Improved Glove Dispenser
2. Description of Related Art
Individuals in the health care industry regularly don disposable sterilized gloves in order to prevent the transmission of bacteria or other contaminants to themselves and to others. It is typical for these gloves to be dispensed from a common cardboard box similar to those used to dispense disposable facial tissues. In order to don a pair of gloves, the individual typically grabs a glove and pulls it from the box using an uncovered hand. Using one ungloved hand, the user slips the glove on to the other hand, after which the gloved hand is used to grab the second glove from the box and then to don it upon the ungloved hand. If we analyze the steps in this process, we can see that while the gloves originally started out being clean and antiseptic, by the time they are actually on the user's hand, they are likely to be anything but clean. In particular, the current (widely used) method requires that the exterior of the first glove and the glove dispenser be touched by ungloved hands. As such, the first glove donned can no longer be expected to be sanitary. Furthermore, the user then uses this potentially soiled glove to grab the second glove in order to don it. It is not a stretch to believe that both gloves are no longer sterile and clean.
A Nosocomial infection is any infection acquired while one is in the hospital. Nosocomial infections can be transmitted from person to person by health care workers who do not wash their hands properly between treating patients or by improper procedures, such as inadequate disinfection or sterilization of equipment. Approximately 2.4 million such infections occur each year in the United States, directly causing about 30,000 deaths and contributing to nearly 70,000 deaths annually. Hospital patients are particularly susceptible to nosocomial infections because their immune systems are often suppressed or compromised due to age, immunosuppresive medication, or other underlying causes, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Nosocomial infections, which progress rapidly and are frequently resistant to antibiotics, generally involve bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Enterobacter, or Pseudomonas or fungi such as Candida. In addition, some microorganisms that reside in a person's body and that normally cause little or no harm may start a nosocomial infection if the individual is treated with an antibiotic that destroys beneficial organisms, thus allowing disease-causing organisms to take over. These staff infections in particular are believed to be transmitted easily between the faces and the hands of human beings, and as such, would be easily transmitted in the aforementioned glove-donning process.
What is needed is a system that permits a user to don sanitary gloves without the need for them to first touch the outside of these gloves. In this way, the gloves would remain sanitary, even through the donning process.